Keeping Messaging Current for B2B Sales and Marketing Teams

by Jason Ogden | Aug 6, 2024

Alignment in messaging is fundamental for sales, marketing and client services teams to maximize the customer experience and drive lifetime value. 

Alignment comes from a systematic approach to collecting, distilling and implementing market intelligence that includes data, client intelligence and instinct from all revenue teams and distilling for marketing to do their work. If marketing is siloed and on its own, it’s virtually impossible to dial in on effective messaging for your audience. 

Under normal conditions, messaging is addressed every few years as companies work on their brand or in an impromptu way by isolated marketing teams. As things continue to evolve rapidly in the B2B marketplace, it’s necessary to have feedback systems in place so marketers can adapt and take advantage of opportunities as they arise. After 4 years of constant flux, rapid change should be expected (until it no longer is). 

The following is meant for the responsibility of the revenue-generating team, often CRO or VP of Sales, which we’ll refer to as Sales Director. As markets evolve, you can keep pace by testing new messages in new ways without a comprehensive overhaul of your marketing engine.  

To achieve the necessary intelligence, Sales Directors should meet with sales, marketing and client success teams regularly. 

Sales Teams 

Frequency: Structured, often and real time 

There should be a regular weekly meeting that includes market headlines in addition to the typical pipeline and forecast run down.  Market headlines over time often uncover movement as it happens and is a basis for new opportunities.  Intelligence regarding any specific deals or insights should be shared in “real-time” depending on the organization.  The Director of Sales needs to capture and know what to make of the headlines and which ones to bring to marketing.   

Accounts / Client Success

Frequency: Structured, regular but less frequent than sales  

These meetings are a great opportunity to uncover new ways to serve your existing clients and also a great way to ask existing clients why they chose you.  Too often the deal channel attribution gets the majority of focus with new client onboards and, “Why did you buy?” is often left unasked. This has obvious implications for messaging.

In addition, trends in existing client conversations and behaviors can be an indicator of market movement.  Be aware of the difference between why clients bought from you initially (which informs messaging) and why they continue to buy.  Both are important but for different reasons.  This is especially true with survey results.  Regular client surveys should be shared with sales, marketing and account teams with the Sales Director distilling what is most important to message for new business.   

Marketing

Frequency: Regular but less frequent than sales or accounts  

These meetings (monthly is a great cadence) tend to be the most strategic beyond existing pipelines and clients. The Sales Director should share insights from sales and accounts, and marketing should share a variety of insights from data and performance.  Together they determine when a change is arising and how best to adjust messaging.  Barring a black swan-type event, best practice is to run some A/B tests and then evaluate how to use messaging adaptations, if at all. 

Alignment between these three teams (sales, marketing and client success)  is the key to a compelling and current message for B2B sales and marketing teams.